Our Center's beautiful shrine provides a focus for faith, serving as a continual
reminder of the Buddhas. The meditation room offers a peaceful and beautiful space for classes, workshops, group meditations, or individual contemplation.
You may also wish to set up a shrine in your own home. Here are some instructions on how to do set up your shrine in a qualified way.
Having selected a clean, quiet space for meditation, facing our meditation seat, on a higher level, we set up a shrine with a picture of Buddha Shakyamuni at the center. If we have them, we can place a scripture to Buddha's right (our left as we face the throne). The scripture can be a text or something as simple as a mantra card or any other small written representation of Buddha's speech.
To Buddha's right (our left) we can place a stupa or picture of a stupa.
In addition, we can place on our shrine other statues or pictures of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Spiritual Guides.
In this way the body (statue or picture), speech (scripture or text), and mind (stupa) of Buddha are represented. With our present, ordinary state of mind we cannot perceive the actual body, speech and mind of Buddha, but if we regard the image of Buddha as an actual Buddha our actions of prostrating, offering, and requesting will have the same merit or value as if we had performed them in the presence of the living Buddha.
